Now we feel Parisian! Our first strike...

(From Betsy) If you have not been following the news over here, there have been ongoing (and growing) protests across the France for the last few weeks against a new measure called the CPE, which basically sets up a trial period for first-time and younger employees, during which the employer can release them without being bound by the usual French labor restrictions and requirements. Depending on which side of the debate you believe, this will either drastically reduce unemployment among young people (in some areas, there's 50% unemployment in younger age brackets), or unfairly deprive young people of hard-won labor protections that they deserve just as much as older French workers, and is a first step towards a larger-scale erosion of labor rights. The Minister of Industry has basically staked his political career on this measure, so he's a little reluctant to retract it, as has been demanded.

To this point, the protests have mainly been led by student groups and several unions, but tomorrow is a day of general sympathy strikes -- the papers are calling it "Mardi Noir." Here's what we're expecting:

The fifth day of nationwide protests against the government's First Employment Contract (CPE) is expected to bring much of the country to a standstill, as transport and public sector workers answer union calls for strikes.

One metro in two will be running in the capital, as well as half of suburban rail links, Paris transport officials said. Nationwide the state-owned SNCF rail company said two out of three TGV fast trains will operate, and bus services will be down in more than 70 towns and cities.

The civil aviation authority DGAC warned passengers to expect delays and cancellations.

No newspapers will be published Tuesday and disruption is predicted on state-run radio and television. Schools, post-offices, government offices, unemployment bureaus and some banks could also be hit.

My current plan is to try getting to work. I had decided to alter my plan only slightly, to include bringing a good, long book with me in case the delays are really terrible, but someone in my office pointed out that everyone will be packed on the trains and you can barely move, so there's no chance of reading...

Schools are open (at least at the elementary school level), so the kids will hopefully have a normal day. There is a march planned in the afternoon. We (and the French police, I'm sure...) hope it stays peaceful, but in any case it's on the Eastern side of the city, not near our apartment, and we will stay as far away as we can.

People warned us that we should be ready for strikes in Paris, but we didn't think we'd have to be ready quite so soon. Now this is a side of Paris not many tourists get to see... aren't we lucky? We'll have extra chocolate croissants and a nice bottle of wine tomorrow to remind ourselves of the up-side too!